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Stand-up paddleboarding growing in popularity

Emerging pursuit not unlike surfing finds footing in central Ohio

Where to give it a try

Businesses that offer an introduction to stand-up paddleboarding:

CLINTONVILLE OUTFITTERS (614-447-8902,
clintonville
outfitters.com)
• Rentals: $40 a day, $75 a weekend
• The store hosts free paddle-boarding and kayaking demonstrations from 7 to 8
p.m. most Wednesdays. The next demos are scheduled for this week at Hoover Reservoir and July 25 at
Griggs Reservoir.

OUTDOOR SOURCE (614-818-3620,
meetup.com/
columbus-sup)
• The store occasionally hosts free paddleboarding demos as well as related
fitness classes. The next demos are set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Hoover Reservoir and 10 a.m. July
18 at Griggs Reservoir.

SUP COLUMBUS (614-468-3494,
supcolumbus.us)
• Rentals: $100 for a full day, $75 for a half-day, $50 for a weeknight
• Instructor and paddleboarding racer John Franklin teaches two-hour private
lessons at $80 for one person or $140 for two people — including equipment rental. Advanced lessons
cost $50 an hour.

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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoEamon Queeney | DISPATCH PHOTOSSUP, dude? Matt Budde of the Harrison West neighborhood rides Griggs Reservoir during his first attempt at stand-up paddleboarding.

“All right, you’re off,” he said — and Brown was soon rapidly paddling across the water, trying
to get past her husband.

And so does a novice easily learn stand-up paddleboarding, a cousin to surfing that might be
used for the enjoyment of a peaceful day on the water, for a core-centric workout or for a vigorous
race on rivers or across ocean waves.

SUP, as it is also known, became popular on the coasts as it spread from professional surfers in
offseason training to the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Rihanna, who have been pictured in
celebrity magazines paddling with perfect abs.

The nonprofit Outdoor Foundation, which began tracking the sport only in 2010, cites
participation in stand-up paddleboarding as outpacing that in all but three of the 121 outdoor
activities that it researches: kayaking, swimming and bowhunting.

This year, said Laird Hamilton, a pro surfer and an early paddleboarding proponent, the activity
is becoming “probably bigger than all other board sports combined.”

Despite central Ohio’s landlocked locale, stand-up paddleboarding is emerging on Griggs, Hoover
and Alum Creek reservoirs; and on rivers such as the Olentangy, Big Darby Creek and the
Kokosing.

Clintonville Outfitters began selling and renting boards last summer, after Barth noticed a
heightened interest in stand-up paddleboarding at outdoor expos.

“There’s a lot of cool little places here to take a paddleboard,” Barth said. “It’s not that
ocean-wave experience, but it’s just as fun and it’s a great workout.”

About a dozen people tried boards at his recent demo, which the store hosts weekly at Griggs,
Hoover or the Olentangy at Northmoor Park in the Clintonville neighborhood.

Some began by kneeling on a board, which is longer and wider than a surfboard, and has a fin on
the underside to help stabilize riders.

Others, such as Brown, simply stood up and started paddling.

(The couple of participants who went overboard could blame the wake created by passing
motorboats.)

Brown, a 29-year-old Victorian Village resident who first saw the activity in Seattle, said she
would recommend it to her physical-therapy clients: The slight balancing act required works the
core and legs, while paddling helps strengthen arms.

After paddleboarding in Maine and again at the demo, Kathleen Wheeler was considering buying a
board to unwind on the Olentangy near her home.

“It’s so relaxing; you get into your own little world,” said Wheeler, 32, of Clintonville. “It
makes you live in the moment.”

But the sport can also be competitive: Next month, John Franklin of German Village will paddle
from Kansas City to St. Charles, Mo., in the grueling Missouri American Water MR340 — a 340-mile
race usually attempted by kayakers and canoeists.

The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native, who traded surfing for paddleboarding upon moving to Columbus
two years ago, was looking for a challenge even greater than the triathlons and marathons he has
completed.

“I wanted to do something a little more unique and a lot more difficult,” said Franklin, a
25-year-old who teaches lessons and rents boards through his part-time business, SUP Columbus.

“This race seemed masochistic enough that I would get that.”

Alisa Doris, an employee at Outdoor Source in Westerville, takes more of a fitness approach: She
teaches occasional paddleboarding classes on Hoover Reservoir that incorporate yoga moves and
strength-training exercises such as push-ups and squats — made more challenging by balancing on the
water.

New to watersports last year, she initially hesitated to stand on the board but quickly overcame
her nerves.

“As soon as I got on the board and on the water,” said Doris, 28, “I was hooked.”

Nate Wollenburg felt the same way after paddleboarding in Costa Rica, where he could see fish
swimming beneath his board.

After returning from vacation and learning about the cost of a board, which runs from $500 to
$1,400, the sales manager with a material-engineering background decided to make his own in his
garage.

The 31-year-old manufactures, sells and rents paddleboards through Project 908, his part-time
business — based in a Dublin warehouse.

The sport will continue to grow in central Ohio, predicted Wollenburg, who has seen awareness of
paddleboarding increase during his two years in business.

“It’s almost youthful joy it brings out of everyone,” he said. “Every time you go out, you find
something you enjoy about it.

“You can’t beat the sensation of standing on water.”

Making a splash

Of the 121 activities researched by the nonprofit Outdoor Foundation, stand-up paddleboarding
ranks among the fastest-growing. The top 10 in the United States, as measured by the increase in
participants from 2010 to 2011: